In Focus: AWC 2022-2023

Intersections and convergences are effective ways for us to safely connect with each other.  But we also need to be brave and welcome collisions.  It’s easy to coalesce as an Asian American & Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community when we’re going against hate and white supremacy.  However, the required work needed for us to build collective power is to confront issues that divide us.  From across the dinner table to discuss why Black Lives Matter with our families, to acknowledging Asian settler colonialism in Oceania, these power structures are replicated and represented in media.  Most often, our always-present Indigenous interconnections are made invisible.

We have to mitigate our own unjust practices that create inequalities within our communities.  We have to uplift and uphold Indigenous storytellers in spaces where Asian American artists may have privilege.  We have to amplify artists who utilize media to preserve cultural traditions and present diasporic stories.  We have to support communities engaging against movements of cultural appropriation/appreciation in the guise of diversity and inclusion.

In our growing practice to challenge definitions and boundaries, we’re always examining what we can do better.   What does it mean when we’ve had five editions of APA Visionaries and not one finalist is Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander?  What does it mean to have two decades of AWC and have only developed two NHPI artists in the Fellowship?

We recognize that Visual Communications has the privilege to create spaces for Asian and Pasifika communities to collide and converge.  From our early works of OMAI FAʻATASI: SAMOA MO SAMOA to NA PUA O LAKA, to our current programmatic focus of Pacific Cinewaves, we continue to elevate works by and about our NHPI communities.

But it’s not enough.

In the next volume of the Armed With A Camera Fellowship, Visual Communications is committed to developing and cultivating Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander emerging filmmakers and media artists.

We are grateful for the work artists and partners have done and continue to do in these spaces.  We acknowledge the work of partners such as Pacific Islanders in Communications, led by the late Leanne Ferrer, whose spirit can be felt through the artists she and PIC have cultivated.  Their work continues to inspire us.

We look forward to being in community with these fellows, mentors, and partners.  Thank you for your continued support.

With gratitude,

Francis Cullado, Executive Director

FILM STILL FROM MAGELLAN DOESN’T LIVE HERE, DIRECTED BY MARIQUITA “MICKI” DAVIS (CLASS OF 2012)

Visual Communications is thrilled to announce that the application for the twentieth season of our Armed With a Camera Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists is now open!

VC is seeking artists who are committed to empowering communities and challenging perspectives through their creative works. For the 2022 - 2023 cycle, we are looking for filmmakers of Pasifika descent, who wish to utilize film to amplify the cultures, histories and perspectives of the indigenous peoples of Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Guåhan (Guam), Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Sāmoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, and additional islands throughout the Pacific region.

The AWC Fellowship is a 12 month hybrid program that includes workshops, networking opportunities, and access to facilities and equipment. Each fellow will receive a personal stipend of $2,500 to remunerate for their time in the Fellowship activations.

Additionally, each fellow will receive a project stipend of $2,500 to create a 10 minute short film, set to premiere at the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

During this time of COVID-19, our partners and funders are supporting filmmakers by covering the application fees, so it is FREE to apply.

The deadline to apply is Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 11:59pm PT.